Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper

The Third Edition of Conducting Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper provides readers with an accessible but in-depth look at how to synthesize research literature. Bestselling author Arlene Fink shows researchers how to justify the need for and significance of research, and explain a study’s findings.

Key Updates to the Third Edition

• Presents nearly a hundred new online examples and references from the social, behavioral, and health sciences
• Offers a revised and updated list of online articles databases
• Includes case studies in the use of major online databases
• Expands the exercises at the end of the chapter to include more online searching
• Clarifies some of the basic concepts of research that are essential in making judgments about the quality of research methods
• Incorporates more examples and clearer explanations of the differences between research design validity (internal and external) and measurement validity
• Introduces the major formal systems for evaluating the literature’s methodological quality
• Provides more qualitative research examples and information on how to evaluate their quality
• Illustrates in greater detail how to write up reviews and how others have done it
• Contains nearly 100 Power Point Slides linked to each of the five chapters available at www.sagepub.com/fink3einstr qualified instructors who adopt the book

The text also discusses the use of Boolean operators for simple and advanced searches, tells readers how to use bibliographic software to organize literature reviews and search "The Virtual File Cabinet.”

Intended Audience

This text is for graduate students in the social science, health, educational, and business fields. It is also appropriate for anyone who design and manage public and private agencies, conduct research studies, and/or prepare strategic plans and grant proposals.

 

Arlene Fink (PhD) is professor of medicine and public health at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and president of the Langley Research Institute. Her main interests include evaluation and survey research, conducting research literature reviews, and the evaluation of their quality. Dr. Fink has conducted scores of evaluation studies in public health, medicine, and education. She is on the faculty of UCLA’s Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and is a scientific and evaluation advisor to UCLA’s Gambling Studies and IMPACT (Improving Access, Counseling & Treatment for Californians with Prostate Cancer) programs. She consults nationally and internationally for agencies such as L’institut de Promotion de la Prévention Secondaire en Addictologie (IPPSA) in Paris, France, and Peninsula Health in Victoria, Australia. Professor Fink has taught and lectured extensively all over the world and is the author of over 135 peer-reviewed articles and 15 textbooks.